Kiri Gillespie: Methamphetamine scourge will bring us to our knees

Meth is a highly addictive drug that is most often smoked using a glass pipe. Photo / File

COMMENT:
If Covid-19 hasn't already brought society to its knees, methamphetamine sure will.

At least, that is what it seems to me.

The depth and reach this horrific drug has in the community is no secret.

Last month, this paper reported on an estimated 80 per cent of Oranga Tamariki cases in part of Tauranga allegedly involving meth abuse. Meth is also increasingly forcing grandparents to take on raising their grandchildren, we reported.

Last week a Tauranga meth addict was jailed after a four-month binge of crime, including pointing a pistol at someone and ramming a police car. Last week, a Rotorua gang member was jailed after a separate meth-fueled rampage in which he accosted a bystander with an axe.

Meth wreaks chaos, pain and terror on anyone who happens to get in its way. It catches people with its insidious tentacles and holds on tight.

On Friday a Tikanga Māori Rehabilitation programme for former criminals in Rotorua received $1 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to reduce methamphetamine use.

I feel for those people who find themselves struggling with addiction.

I've seen people who have lied, cheated and stolen from those they love the most in the world just to get another fix. It's heartbreaking to watch. There's something soul-destroying about seeing the hollow shell of a person an addict becomes.

Addiction does not justify criminal behaviour but we need to ask ourselves, who is really responsible here?

Over the years in this job, I've seen my fair share of methamphetamine offenders in court. I'm left with zero doubt of the link between gangs and the drug.

I've seen senior gang members in court docks more worried about their possessions seized by police than they are about the people their distribution efforts have inflicted. Many are supported by loved ones insisting they've done nothing wrong, despite undeniable evidence.

Are these people blind to the carnage they're contributing to? Or they're just plain ignorant?

Society needs to take a harder stance on such thugs.

I'm not saying let's grab our pitchforks and march down the street but there are pockets in our community accepting of this criminal behaviour.

That needs to stop.

We, as a community, need to take a zero-tolerance to the drug and its pushers.

Anti-family violence advocates did well to instil the "It's not OK" mantra into New Zealand's psyche.

Let's do likewise to stamp out this festering meth menace.

Because it's not okay.